Progressive Dynamics PD9270. How low does battery voltage have to be in order to go into boost mode?

[Checkthisout]

Hello. This system isn't vehicle mounted but this charger is for RV's so I thought maybe you guys know. What battery voltage or logic does the PD9270 use to go into boost mode?

As of now I am letting the system drop to 12.0 volts and then starting the generator. The system goes into "normal" mode (13.5 volts) which means my generator will have to run forever in order charge the bank back up. The system has a passive constant draw of 35 watts so it drops to 12V over a few days if the solar can't keep.

When using the system in person with a constant 500 watt draw or so, I set the generator to start at 11.8 volts and the PD9270 always starts in boost mode.

Do any of you know what the actual voltage has to be in order for boost mode to be activated when power is applied to converter? I sent an e-mail to PD but have yet to hear back. Is it strictly voltage based? Etc.

Thanks!

 

[HRTKD]

I poked around on the PD website and came up empty.

Are you charging a lead acid battery or LiFePO4 battery? If you want to minimize generator runtime, go with a LiFePO4 battery. They can charge very quickly, much faster than lead acid. The converter you're using should not be used with LiFePO4, especially if you connect to shore power for an extended period of time. It doesn't sound like you do, but I thought I should throw that out there. The equalization phase isn't good for LiFePO4, but the voltage of your equalization phase is pretty wimpy anyhow. Here's the voltages that your built-in Charge Wizard should be producing.

BOOST Mode 14.4 Volts – Rapidly brings the RV battery up to 90% of full charge.
NORMAL Mode 13.6 Volts – Safely completes the charge.
STORAGE Mode 13.2 Volts – Maintains charge with minimal gassing or water loss.
EQUALIZATION Mode 14.4 Volts – Every 21 hours for a period of 15 minutes prevents battery stratification & sulfation – the leading cause of battery failure.

And finally, there are a lot of us that aren't very impressed with the available AC-DC converters. Not just from PD, either. A programmable charger/converter is ideal.

 

[Checkthisout]

I poked around on the PD website and came up empty.

Are you charging a lead acid battery or LiFePO4 battery? If you want to minimize generator runtime, go with a LiFePO4 battery. They can charge very quickly, much faster than lead acid. The converter you're using should not be used with LiFePO4, especially if you connect to shore power for an extended period of time. It doesn't sound like you do, but I thought I should throw that out there. The equalization phase isn't good for LiFePO4, but the voltage of your equalization phase is pretty wimpy anyhow. Here's the voltages that your built-in Charge Wizard should be producing.


And finally, there are a lot of us that aren't very impressed with the available AC-DC converters. Not just from PD, either. A programmable charger/converter is ideal.

This is at an off-grid cabin. The gen is designed for house loads while I am at the cabin but also serves to recharge the batteries when the solar cannot keep up on these short, cloudy, rainy days.

When I am at the cabin, I set the gen to automatically start when battery voltage reaches 11.8 and the PD always goes into boost mode. I am operating it remotely and did not want the voltage to drop below 12.2 when I am not there but when the gen starts the PD only goes into "normal" mode and the voltage will not go above 13.5.

It's a little difficult to experiment remotely because the solar is keeping the battery up to 12.2 but hopefully tonight it will drop to 11.9 and I will fire the generator and see. .1 volt at a time for testing purposes until I hear back from PD.

On another note, what charger would you recommend? I run a PC at the location that I remote into which allows me to do all this. What chargers hook to a PC and can have their modes programmed or changed manually via pc interface?

LIFEPO 4 not in budget but maybe after I fry the 2 8D's we'll see!

 

[John Frum]

Does your converter have the "pendant" port?

Home 3 - Progressive Dynamics

The Mighty Mini Compact All-In-One System offers an AC/DC Power Distribution Panel and Inteli-Power Converter with Charge Wizard battery charging technology.

www.progressivedyn.com

Home 3 - Progressive Dynamics

The Mighty Mini Compact All-In-One System offers an AC/DC Power Distribution Panel and Inteli-Power Converter with Charge Wizard battery charging technology.

www.progressivedyn.com

 

[Checkthisout]

Does your converter have the "pendant" port?

Home 3 - Progressive Dynamics

The Mighty Mini Compact All-In-One System offers an AC/DC Power Distribution Panel and Inteli-Power Converter with Charge Wizard battery charging technology.

www.progressivedyn.com

Home 3 - Progressive Dynamics

The Mighty Mini Compact All-In-One System offers an AC/DC Power Distribution Panel and Inteli-Power Converter with Charge Wizard battery charging technology.

www.progressivedyn.com

Yes and it has the Pendant hooked up. The problem is that I am not on site to give it a tap to get it to go into boost mode.

I need to know how far I need to let the voltage fall so the PD9270 will go into boost mode (14.4 Volts) when the gen is started instead of going into normal mode (13.5 volts).

When present at the cabin, I program the gen to start at 11.8 Volts and the PD always goes into boost mode. I do not want to let the voltage drop that far when I am not there and the system is not in use other than the 35 watt draw from the camera system.

 

[John Frum]

The problem is that I am not on site to give it a tap to get it to go into boost mode.

I have an iota converter and it has a boost pendant.
I make my own pendant that I control like this.
raspi->solid_state_relay->pendant_interface.

 

[John Frum]

I know you just want someone to tell you the voltage.
Hopefully that someone will come along.

 

[Checkthisout]

I know you just want someone to tell you the voltage.
Hopefully that someone will come along.

Ha ha. Thanks.

That will probably be my solution. I will rig up a switch and find out which two wires running to the pendant are the "switched" wires. I assume two are for the led and two are for the switch.

I will then interface the relay with a leftover ewelink (I run wifi at the location) device I have or some other type of box.

I was thinking of adding another TYCON Webmonitor 2 to the system for controlling some lights, refrigerator and maybe the pendant and monitoring a few other things.

 

[Checkthisout]

I have an iota converter and it has a boost pendant.
I make my own pendant that I control like this.
raspi->solid_state_relay->pendant_interface.

May I ask how you control a relay with your PI and what options would you recommend for a pc? I have a TYCON box that works awesome but something that is a single relay would be nice.

 

[time2roll]

I am not convinced it is a set voltage. I believe it may depend on initial amp draw and voltage sag will trigger boost mode. Larger battery, larger and shorter wire may help. I believe the terminals will go #4 wire and is what I recommend.

Powermax Boondocker always starts in boost when powered up. Same for IOTA.

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm3-12v-series/

 

[John Frum]

May I ask how you control a relay with your PI and what options would you recommend for a pc? I have a TYCON box that works awesome but something that is a single relay would be nice.

The rasberry pi running linux made it easy as there are libraries for many languages to toggle gpio pins.
the gpio pins control the solid state relay.

 

[John Frum]

Same for IOTA.

On my IOTA, boost mode is entirely controlled by the pendant.

 

[Checkthisout]

I am not convinced it is a set voltage. I believe it may depend on initial amp draw and voltage sag will trigger boost mode. Larger battery, larger and shorter wire may help. I believe the terminals will go #4 wire and is what I recommend.

Powermax Boondocker always starts in boost when powered up. Same for IOTA.

https://powermaxconverters.com/product/pm3-12v-series/

Here is a view of part of the setup when it was under construction. It's 2 gauge cable from the PD through the fuse to the terminal block then 4/0 (0000) to the battery. 2 8D batteries

 

[HRTKD]

On another note, what charger would you recommend? I run a PC at the location that I remote into which allows me to do all this. What chargers hook to a PC and can have their modes programmed or changed manually via pc interface?

It would involve a significant change to your landscape but the Victron Energy Multiplus inverter has a programmable charger built-in. It's also controllable remotely. It may have the ability to interface with the generator startup device, but I have no experience with that.

 

[Checkthisout]

It would involve a significant change to your landscape but the Victron Energy Multiplus inverter has a programmable charger built-in. It's also controllable remotely. It may have the ability to interface with the generator startup device, but I have no experience with that.

I went with a "pieced together" system because I was afraid if one component of the multiplus fails, then I am out a transfer switch, charger and inverter. The 3KVA multiplus would be absolutely perfect for my setup. I wouldn't be able to integrate it into my generator other than having the gen supply power to it but it would take care of everything else.

Would absolutely love to ditch my convoluted setup if the Multiplus had better Amazon reviews.

 

[John Frum]

I went with a "pieced together" system because I was afraid if one component of the multiplus fails, then I am out a transfer switch, charger and inverter. The 3KVA multiplus would be absolutely perfect for my setup. I wouldn't be able to integrate it into my generator other than having the gen supply power to it but it would take care of everything else.

Would absolutely love to ditch my convoluted setup if the Multiplus had better Amazon reviews.

I'm not a Victron fan but the Multiplus is teir 1 kit.
Comparable to Samlex Evo and Magnum offerings.

 

[time2roll]

On my IOTA, boost mode is entirely controlled by the pendant.

I agree. I understand during initial power up the standard module will go through the algorithm and repeat weekly if powered continuously.
The other modules might be different.

 

[John Frum]

I agree. I understand during initial power up the standard module will go through the algorithm and repeat weekly if powered continuously.
The other modules might be different.

The standard module is just an rj9 with pin 1 short to pin 3 and pin 2 shorted to pin 4.
Its called a boost pendant and it comes free with the converter.
the pin 2 to pin 4 short has no function afaik.

 

[time2roll]

The standard module is just an rj9 with pin 1 short to pin 3 and pin 2 shorted to pin 4.
Its called a boost pendant and it comes free with the converter.
the pin 2 to pin 4 short has no function afaik.

OK do you have a dual voltage switch or an IQ controller?

https://realgoods.com/iota-iq4-smart-charge-controller

 

[Checkthisout]

I'm not a Victron fan but the Multiplus is teir 1 kit.
Comparable to Samlex Evo and Magnum offerings.

It's my dream system. If I get a nice bonus I will upgrade to it (I think my hacky pieced together system probably cost just as much in the end) and upgrade to 24 Volts with 2 more batteries.